Labeling-machine



c. M. c. scuou.

LABELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a, 1916.

Patented May 4,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1- 2 f l/ A 2 w 0 J6 r} 26 C. M. C. SCHOU.

LABELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a, 191.6.

1,338,793 ted May 4, 1920.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. M. CFSCHOU.

LABELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-8,1916.

1,338,793. Patented May 4, 1920.

3 SHEETS-'SHEET 3. c fig;

CHRISTIAN MTCHAEL GHBISTIANSEN SCI-IOU, OF GOPENHAGEN, DENMARK.

LABELING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1920.

Application filed. February 8, 1916. Serial No. 76,891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN MICHAEL CHRISTIANSEN SoHoU, citizen of theKingdom of Denmark, and a resident of'Copenhagen, Denmark, Srindre Boulevard. 63, engineer, have invented new and useful Improvements in Labeling-lVlachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for the labeling of bottles, cans and other receptacles of glass, china, metal, earthenware or other material, such machines being of the type in which a roller adapted to reciprocate to and fro removes the lowermost label of a stack of labels and delivers it, after be- ,ing coated on one side with paste, to a gripping appliance in the path of a moving bottle or other receptacle. The label is thus picked up by the bottle and applied thereto by wipers or equivalent devices.

The present invention consists in a labeling machine of this type, characterized by the fact that in connection with a roller there is or are employed one or more slides, which, during the forward and backward movement of the roller, serve as supports for the labels, and having an opening or slot opposite the roller through which the roller is adapted to come into contact with the lowest label of a pile, and by its movement carry this latter with it, after which the label in a known way is brought to one group of a number of combined rotating and gripping devices which holds the label, and carries it into the track of the passing bottle, in such a manner that the first ofthe said devices meets the traveling label; which at the moment is supported by two rubber rollers. brushes or the like lying behind it, and of which the first is directly connected with oneof the aws of the gripping apparatus, whereby the pressure of the bottle causes the gripping device to open and release the label which is thereupon applied to the bottle by the rollers in the continued forward movement of the bottle.-

A machine constructed in accordance with the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the parts of the machine in a different position.

Fig. 3 is elevation partly in section looking from the right in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view partly in section.

" Fig. 5 is a plan of the gripping device, certain parts being omitted, and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the travel of the label through the machine. As best shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing bearings 4 are provided at opposite sides of the machine and in these bearings are rotatably mounted pins 5, which carry at their-inner ends arms 6. These arms carry :pins 7 shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, upon which are rotatably mounted toothed pinions 8, that are in mesh with stationary gears '9 located at opposite sides of the machine and having internal teeth. Each of the'pinions 8 carries a fixed arm 10 and the two arms 10 support a rotatable shaft 11 carrying-one or more fixed labeling rollers 12, which are circumferentially grooved as shown at 13. I

On side of the'roller 12, is abox 14, which is open toward the roller, but closed on all other sides, and which by a spring 15 is pressed against the roller. The box 14 is filled with paste, which by means. of a flexible tube 16 is fed to it from an elevated reservoir 17 The distance between the mathematical axis of revolution of pin 7 and shaft 11 is somewhat greater than the radius of the pinion 8. If these dimensions were equally large, the shaft 11 by the rotation of the pinion 8 inside pinion. 9 would be displaced parallel to itself, backward and forward in the same direction. But the fact that the distance between the rotating is somewhat greater or possibly a little smaller than the radius of pinion 8, causes the axis of shaft 11 to make a curve 1.8, Figs. 12, which resembles a very flat ellipse.

Above the roller 12 and sliding on a table 22, is a slide 19, which is longitudinally slotted at 19 to permit roller 12 to come into touch with the labels 21, Fig. 1. The labels are situated above the slide 19 and support ed thereby in a fixed bottomless box 20. The slide 19 follows the movement backward and forward of shaft 11, by'having a pair, or possibly two pairs of arms 23-24 which pass through an opening 22 in the table 22 and engage shaft 11, so that this latter during its movement backward and forward carries the slide 19 with it, without transmitting to it the vertical movement of the shaft.

Two arms 2627 which conjointly carry a shaft 28 are mounted upon a shaft In fixed connection with the shaft 28 are two cross-shaped wheels 29, which are rigidly connected with each other by four grippers 30, 31, 32 and 33, all of which are of the same shape and so positioned that a bottle (traveling in the manner hereinafter .described) may touch any pair of branches of the cross-shaped wheels 29 without touching the grippers connecting such pair of branches. w

on shaft 28 are loosely mounted two members 34, each consisting of two diametrically opposite radially projecting arms, Figs. 1, 2, and 5. The members are rigidly connected. by two grippers -36, and two rotating rubber rollers 37-38. Springs 60 are located between the gripper 31 and arms 34 and tend to move the arms 34 in a clockwise direction in Figs. 1-2 which causes the grippers 3536 to press against the above grippers 30-32.

The springs 60 may if desired, be arranged around the shaft 28 as shown in Fig. 5.

Shaft 28 further loosely carries two arms 39, Figs. 1, 2 and 5, which are rigidly connected by two grippers 4041, which by the tension from a spring 61'are normally pressed against the said grippers 31-33 respectively. Two rotating rubber rollers 4243 are also carried by the arms 39.

Normally, that is when the grippers 35, 36, 40 and 41 respectively are being pressed by springs and 61 into contact with grippers 32, 30 31 and 33 (Fig. 1), a small seg ment of the rubber rollers 37, 38, 42 and 43 projects beyond the side edges of the branches of the cross-shaped wheel 29, so that, when one'of the traveling bottles or the like approaches the pair of cross wheel branches which happens at the moment to be in its path, the bottle will first strike againstthe projecting segment of the rubber roller which is between that pair of branches. As the bottle continues to travel the roller will be moved forward thereby causing a slight rotation of the members 39 (or 34, as the case may be) relative to the cross wheels 29, which latter remain stationary until the bottle has pressed the projecting segment of the roller entirely between its pair of branches, when the bottle will come into contact with the said branches and rotate the cross-wheel. Since the grippers of the members 39 (or 34) turn in an anticlockwise direction, the grippers carried by the wheel 29 and those carried by the rotated members 39 or 34 will separate and thus release the label gripped between them. The normal compression of the springs 60 and 61, it will be seen,must be such that the grippers carried by the members 39 and 34 will be urged toward the corresponding gripperscarried by the cross-wheels 29 with sufiicient force to cause the label to be securely gripped between them, but, at the same time, the said springs, when additionally compressed by anticlockwise rotation of the members 39 or 34 caused by a traveling bottle, must yield without communicating the slight rotational move ment of the members 39 or 34 to the cross shaped wheels 29.

hen the drum 12 reaches its extreme right-hand position (Fig. 2 and 0 Fig. 6) the adjacent pair of contacting grippers (30 and 36 in Fig. 2) are caused to separate to receive the label which the drum 12 has conveyed from the stack 21. This action is accomplished by the cam-shaped extremity 63 of the depending arm 24 which engages and depresses the spindle'of the adjacent rubber roller (see roller 38, Fig. 2), which action causes the pair of arms which carry the roller in question to be rotated slightly in an anticlockwise direction and consequently against the action of its spring. In this case also the spring'60 (see Fig; 2) must yield and permit a turning movement of the members 34 relative to the 'cross-. shaped wheels 29. lVhen the drum 12 is in its right-hand position as just described, the plane of the flat contacting surfaces of the adjacent pair of' grippers will be substantially tangential to the circumferential surface of the drum 12 and in close proximity thereto, for a purpose which will be pointed out later. 7

At the lowest part'of the machine are two arms 45, mounted on a-shaft 44; 'These arms carry a shaft 46 upon which arefixedly mounted a pair of cross-shaped members 47. On the shaft 46 is also carried a pair of cross-shaped wheels 48, on each of the four arms'of which is carried a pair of rotating rubber rollers 49. In contrast to the members 47, the wheels 48 are not fixed on shaft 46, but have a small free-turning movement, a spring 62 tendingto turn the wheels 48 in an anticlockwise direction, so that one of the rollers 49 is pressed lightly against the bottle 50 which is just passing, see Fig. 1.

The bottles-are carried forward between two guides 51 52 by the aid of projections 62 on a chain, or other device which is omitted. in the drawing by means of which a definite distance between the bottles is maintained. The mechanism for feeding the bottles forward is so arranged that a bottle moves forward a certain distance corresponding to that between two bottles, at the same time that the shaft makes one revolution.

In order to cause the shaft 11 and therewith the roller 12 to rotate, the shaft at each end carries a pinion 53, the teeth of whi h those of the internally toothed elliptical gears 57 which are shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. The elliptical gears 57 are fixed by bolts, notshown, to the machine frame and so co-act with the pinions 53 that the roller 12 continuously rotates slowly in an anticlockwise direction on its own axis, at a peripheral speed which isequal to that at which its axis travels along the uppermost part of the ellipse 18 so .that no relative movement occurs. i j

The apparatus works in the following manner: I

lVhen' shaft 5 Fig. 3 is drivenin an anticlockwise direction the axis of shaft 11 will move along the upper part of the curve 18 from left to right. Roller 12 in consequence of this movement is lifted up into the slot 19 in the slide. 19, and its surface being covered with a layer ofpaste', fromthe paste box 14, the lowermost of the labels will stick to the roller (a in Fig. 6), and be carried along thereby (b in Fig. 6).

Roller 12 having reached the position shown in Fig. 2 (c in Fig. 6), the leading edge of the label 54, will come into contact with two arms 55 fastened to box 14, and extending into the grooves of roller 12, and

owing to the continued rotation of the.

roller, the label will be removed fromroller 12, Figs. 2 and 6.

The cam 63 as already indicated is so positioned and designed as to cause the adjacent pair of grippers (30 and 36, Fig. 2) to separate just as the foremost part of label 54 is being peeled off the drum 12 by the arms 55, and the drum 12 feeds the label v into the space between grippers 30-36. After that, when roller 12, during the con tinued working of the machine is moved to the left from the position shown in Fig. 2, the cam 63 will release member 34, which will cause the gripper 36 to be again pressed up against gripper 30 by the spring 60 and in this way grip label 54. Apart of the label still adheres to the surface of roller '12, but is freed therefrom as the roller travels along the lowermost curve of the ellipse 18, when the roller moves to the left from the position shown in Fig. 2, and it is therefore of great importance that the speed of rotation of the roller shall not exceed during this movement that of the translational movement thereof, since if it were not so, the label might be creased, or be torn.

While the roller 12 is being carried to the left, the axis of shaft 11 follows the lowermost half of curve 18, and consequently roller 12 is lowered relatively to the slot 19 of slide 19, so that it does not touch the labels 21. At the same time'as roller 12 is carried to the left, the foremost of the bottles carried forward from left to right will turn members 29 and 47 and associated gripping and fixing devices mounted on shafts 28 and 46 one fourth part of a revolution. Label 54 Fig. 2 will thus be caused to assume the position shown in Fig. 1 number 56, and then the position in Fig. 2, number 57 and cl in Fig. 6. Here it stops for a moment and in this position it is supported by roller 43, and by the uppermost of the rollers 49. When the next bottle reaches label in position 57 which is provided with paste on the side facing the bottle, it forces the said rubber rollers 43.49 back, as previously described, until it contacts with the branches of the cross-shaped wheels 29 and '47 which swings the member 39 and thereby causes the gripping mechanism 3140 to open, and release the label. During its continued movement the bottle passes between two of the arms of the cross shaped members 29--47 which causes these to turn, and rollers 43-49, during this movement roll on the back of the label to cause it to adhere firmly, to the bottle. The label finally fixed upon the bottle is indicated at .58, Fig. 2.

The machine described is remarkable by the fact that it combines catching, fastening and label applying devices which are arranged around shaft 28, and which work together with the wheels 48, with rollers 49 fixed around shaft 46. Of course these parts may be constructed in other ways, but iti's the principle described for the construction of the machine which is the essence of the invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An improved labeling machine comprising in combination a label holder with an open bottom, means sliding relatively to the holder and supporting the labels and provided with an opening, a pasting roller periodically cooperating through said opening with said holder to engage, paste and withdraw the lowest label, means for reciprocating the roller, a combined rotating and label. gripping device to which the roller carries the label, a bottle carrying track,

means whereby the label is brought into the bottle track to meet a bottle, means for moving the bottle, means for releasing the label, and yieldinglabelin rollers in the path of the bottle, whereby the released label is applied to the moving bottle.

2. An improved labeling machine comprising in combination a label holder with an open bottom, a slide moving relatively to the holder and supporting the labels and provided with an opening, a pasting roller periodically cooperating through said opening with said holder to engage, paste and withdraw the lowest label, means for reciprocating the roller, a rotating series of jaw grips and rollers, to one of. which grips the roller carries the pasted label, means for actuating the jaw grips to seize the label, a bottle carrying track, means wherelUU by the gripped label is brought into the bottle track to meet a bottle, means for opening the label grip, a series of labeling rollers cooperating with the series of jaw grips and rollers and between which series the bottle is fed, whereby the moving bottle picks up the label which is applied to the bottle by the series of rollers,

3. An improved labeling machine comprising in combination an open bottom label holder, a slide moving relatively to the holder and supporting the labels and having an opening therein, a pasting roller periodically cooperating through said opening with said holder to engage, paste and withdraw the lowest label, a rotating series of yielding jaw grips and rollers, means for reciprocating the pasting roller between the label holder and jaw grips, means for actuating the jaw grips to receive the label from the roller, a series of yielding labeling rollers cooperating with the series of jaw grips, a bottle carrying track extending between the two said series, means for rotating the aw grips to position the label across the bottle track, means for releasing the label, whereby as the moving bottle moves between the two said series the moving bottle picks up the label and causes it to be securely applied thereto.

4.. An improved labeling machine comprising in combination an open bottom label holder, a slide moving relatively to the holder and supporting the labels and having an opening therein, a pasting roller periodically cooperating through said opening with said holder to engage, paste and withdraw the lowest label, a jaw grip device comprising a shaft adapted to move up and down, two cross-shaped disks on the shaft and having four fixed guides, two other cross arms on the shaft carrying pairs of guides which respectively work in conjunction with the said fixed guides, said cross arms also carrying rubber label pressing rollers, means for reciprocating the pasting roller between the label holder and the jaw grip device as above constituted, means for actuating the jaw grips to receive the label from the roller, a series of yielding labeling rollers cooperating with the series of jaw grips, a bottle carrying track extending between the two said series, means for rotating the jaw grips to position the label across the bottle track, means for releasing the label, whereby as the moving bottle moves between the two said series, the moving bottle picks up the label and causes it to be securely applied thereto.

5. An improved labeling machine comprising in combination an open bottom label holder, a slide moving relatively to the holder and supporting the labels and having an opening therein, a pasting roller pe-' riodically cooperating through said opening as above, means for actuating the aw grips to receive the label from the roller, a series of yielding labeling rollers cooperating with the series of jaw grips, a bottle carrying track extending between the two said series, means for rotating the jaw grips to position the label across the bottle track, means for releasing the label, whereby as the moving bottle moves between the two said series, the moving bottle picks up the label and causes it to be securely applied thereto. 6. An improved labeling machine com prising in combination an open bottom label holder, a slide moving relatively to the holder and supporting the labels and having an opening therein, a pasting roller periodically cooperating through said opening with said opening to engage, paste and withdraw the lowest label, a jaw grip device comprising a shaft adapted to move up and down, two cross-shaped disks on the shaft and having four fixed guides, two other cross arms on the shaft carrying pairs of guides, which yieldingly each engage the fixed guides, respectively, label pressing rollers on the said arms, a finger moving with the pasting roller for disengaging one pair of guides to receive a label, means for reciprocating the pasting roller between the label holder and the jaw grip device constituted as above, means for actuating the jaw grips to receive the label from the roller, a labeling roller device comprising a shaft, crossshaped disks thereon to engage the passing bottle, loosely mounted cross-shaped wheels on the shaft, rubber label pressing rollers thereon, the roller device cooperating with the jaw grip device, a'bottle carrying track extending between the two said series, means for rotating the jaw grips to position the label across the bottle track, means for releasing the label, whereby as the moving bottle moves between the twosaid series, the moving bottle picks up the label and causes it to be securely applied thereto.

An improved labeling machine comprising in combination an open bottom label holder, a slide moving relatively to the holder and supporting the labels and havin g an opening therein, a pasting roller pe riodically cooperating through said opening with said opening to engage, paste and with:-

draw the lowest label, a jaw grip device comprising a shaft adapted to move up and down, two cross-shaped disks on the shaft and having four fixed guides, two other cross arms on the shaft carrying pairs of guides, which yieldingly each engage the fixed guides respectively, label pressing rollers on the said arms, a finger moving with the pasting roller for disengaging one pair of guides to receive a label, means for reciprocating the pasting roller between the label holder and the jaw grip device constituted as above, means for actuating the jaw grips to receive the label from the roller, a labeling roller device comprising a shaft, cross-shaped disks thereof to engage the passing bottle, loosely mounted cross-shaped wheels on the shaft, a spring arranged bethis 11th day of January tween the cross shaped disks and crossshaped wheels to afford a resilient pressure upon a bottle, rubber label pressing rollers thereon, the roller device cooperating with the jaw grip device, a bottle carrying track extending between the two said series, means for rotating the jaw grips to position the label across the bottle track, means for releasing the label, whereby as the moving bottle moves between the two said series, the moving bottle picks up the label and causes it to be securely applied thereto.

Signed by me at Copenhagen, Denmark,

1916. CHRISTlAN MICHAEL CHRISTIANSEN SCHOU. Witnesses:

CHAS. HUDE, I. KNUDSEN. 

